Archive
International News Services archives articles supplied to clients one year or more after initial publication. These articles are protected by a password and not made available to readers without permission from clients. They are used as a background resource by agency journalists. Upon client requests, International News Services will remove such articles from the archive or not upload them in the first place. They are included to demonstrate the breadth of topics undertaken by the agency and also to help promote clients’ coverage.
ECJ CASES
KEITH NUTHALL
THE PORTUGUESE government has been ordered to scrap its reduced five per cent rate of VAT on equipment designed for research into alternative forms of energy, with the European Court of Justice ruling that it contravened the EU’s Sixth VAT Directive, which attempts to harmonise the application of sales taxes.…
UNCTAD REPORT
Keith Nuthall
THE LATEST World Commodity Survey from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development has given a half-hearted welcome to the liberalisation of the power sector that is proceeding throughout the developed world, especially in Europe. Its electricity chapter concluded that it was “stimulating competition, increasing transparency and leading to industrial reorganisation,” but questioned whether this would lead to lower prices and increased demand.…
CHERNOBYL LATEST
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has granted the Ukraine Euro 20 million to help it purchase additional fuel for electricity power plants this winter, following the closure of Chernobyl, a longstanding aim of EU diplomacy. The money follows Euro 35 million already pledged to help the Kiev government meet its post-Chernobyl energy needs.…
ITER
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE INTENATIONAL organisation committed to developing a workable fusion reactor has formally decided to move ahead with the next stage of its plan to develop the first fusion device to produce thermal energy at the level of a commercial power station.…
MINK CULL
BY ALAN OSBORN
THE EUROPEAN Commission’s LIFE-Nature programme is meet half the costs of a pounds 1.65 million scheme to eradicate the American mink from the Western isles of Scotland where it is beginning to decimate important bird populations. Remaining cash will come from Scottish National Heritage and others.…
OZONE LAYER
BY KEITH NUTHALL
A CALL has been made at a meeting of the parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer, for developing countries to be given less time to phase out the CFC substitute HCFC’s, which also damages patches of the gas in the high atmosphere.…
DRINKING WATER
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission is threatening legal action against the British government, claiming that it has failed to write the updated EU drinking water directive into UK national legislation. If Whitehall does not persuade the Commission within two months that it has satisfactory plans to implement its rules, it could face a case at the European Court of Justice.…
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission is playing its part in the debate over whether companies should be given additional duties for promoting health and safety and a clean environment, by publishing a green paper on Promoting a European Framework for Corporate Social Responsibility.…
LABELLING LAWS
BY KEITH NUTHALL
EU consumer affairs and health Commissioner David Byrne has revealed details of a planned new European directive on food and drink labelling, which could lead to a dramatic expansion of the ingredient information that must be printed. If it is approved by the European Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers, the directive would order the listing of all ingredients of foodstuffs and potential allergens.…
FISH DIOXINS
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission is considering introducing a series of dioxin contamination limits for fish products. They include: 6 nanograms/kg for fish oil, 4 nanograms/kg for farmed and wild fish, 1.25 nanogram/kg for fish meal and 2.25 nanogram/kg for fish feed.…